West Ham United have been dealt a huge setback in their bid to secure a deal to bring Mohamed Bayo to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What's the talk?

That's according to a claim made by Alan Nixon, with The Sun journalist revealing on Twitter that Clermont Foot will not be sanctioning the sale of the centre-forward this month, as the French club require the 23-year-old's services in their battle to avoid relegation from Ligue 1.

Previous reports had claimed that Clermont were demanding a figure in the region of €20m (£17m) in order to part with the Guinea international this month, with a number of English clubs - including West Ham - believed to have made contact with the French outfit regarding a deal for the striker.

However, according to Nixon's latest update, a move for the player now appears to be off the table in January, with the journalist stating: "West Ham. Brighton. Southampton. Won't get striker Bayo from Clermont this season. Now needed to avoid relegation."

Moyes will be fuming

Considering just how impressive Bayo has been in France this season, and with West Ham desperately lacking any real strength in depth at centre-forward, the news that Clermont are no longer considering cashing in on the 23-year-old this month is sure to have left David Moyes fuming.

Indeed, over his 17 Ligue 1 appearances so far this season, the £9m-rated forward has been in remarkable form, having already scored nine goals, registered two assists and created three big chances for his team-mates, as well as taking 2.3 shots and making 1.1 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the £5.2k-per-week hitman average a superb SofaScore match rating of 7.00, ranking him as his club's second-best performer in the French top flight, while his nine goals rank him as the joint-seventh highest scorer in the division overall.

As such, when taking into account that Moyes only has the injury-prone Michail Antonio as an option at centre-forward, Bayo would very much have seemed to be a welcome addition to the 58-year-old's attacking arsenal at the London Stadium.

However, following Nixon's latest update, it would now look as if the Scot will need to turn his attention elsewhere in the transfer market in his bid to secure attacking reinforcements, something which will undoubtedly come as a gutting blow to the West Ham manager.

In other news: Transfer insider reveals West Ham have "looked at" signing £25m beast, fans surely buzzing